News

Florida Democratic Party Response to Do-Nothing Carlos Lopez-Cantera

Posted June 29, 2015

In response to Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera’s statement that he "is always on the job,” despite the wide reporting of his borderline-nonexistent work schedule, Florida Democratic Party Chair Allison Tant issued the following statement:

“Prove it."

Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera spent Monday in Southwest Florida, meeting with members of the Southwest Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Bonita Springs Chamber of Commerce to discuss the legislative session.

Lopez-Cantera met with the Southwest Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce around 11 a.m., before meeting with members at the Bonita Springs Chamber of Commerce around 3 p.m. During the one hour meeting in Bonita, Lopez-Cantera chatted with a small group of board members about education, transportation and economic development.

“A lot of the feedback, a lot of good ideas come from people on the ground, living it,” he said after the meeting. “We want to make sure everyone has an opportunity to have a job and live their dreams here in Florida, and what better organizations than chambers who represent businesses, small businesses, large businesses and what they’re hearing and how we could be doing to make things better.”

Lopez-Cantera has taken heat in recent weeks for his schedule. The lieutenant governor’s sole constitutional duty is to replace the governor in the event he’s incapacitated or deceased.

Many days the official schedule released by the governor’s office show the lieutenant governor has no scheduled events. When asked Monday about scheduling, Lopez-Cantera said he is always on the job.

The Miami Republican was picked to replace Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, who stepped down in 2013. He is frequently mentioned as a candidate for U.S. Senate.

Lopez-Cantera said he plans to make an announcement on July 15 about whether he plans to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Marco Rubio, who is running for president.